The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-11-05
STANLEY AS A TRAVELLER
The Earth.

The qualities that have made Henry M. Stanley so successful as an African traveller have been very conspicuous in his last undertaking, which is per- haps the most difficult enterprise he has conducted He has accomplished, says the Sun, the feat of leading seven hundred and fifty men, most of them heavily laden with ammunition and other stores intended for Emin Pasha, through three hundred and fifty miles of famine stricken country. He re- quired five steamers to carry his expe- dition to the Aruwimi, but he found only three steamboats available, and with these inadequate resources he managed, by taking lot of barges in tow, to transport nearly four -tit'ths of his party eight hundred miles up the river, arriving at the AruWimi a day or two before he was expected to reach that point. The suflerings of his expedition may be inferred from the fact that the collapse of a number of his men, who were unable to pro- ceed, was due solely to weakness re- sulting from their scanty rations. When hunger drove his hundreds of carriers to the verge of revolt, be- tween Stanley Pool and Bolobo, Stan ley put the rebellious ringleaders in irons, and his prompt severity re- stored discipline and saved his expe- dition from the r,ain that threatened it. Stanley has not been very popu- lar with most of the men he has in- troduced on the Congo. With rare exceptions he has not taken them into his confidence or mingled with them on terms of personal intimacy. One of them, who served for three years under him in important positions, wrote that he rarely consulted his subordinates, never confided his plans to them, and that he had lived for years with Stanley and still felt that he did not know the man. of MT. Stanley told me-" said Lieutenant Braconnier, "to'pack my baggage and be ready to start in an hour, would not dream of asking him where we were going. He would simply tell me my own duties required all my attention" These very men, who have not admired Stanley in his per- sonal relations with his subordinates, have had great confidence in his good judgment and ability as leader, and some of them have expressed their ad- miration of his handling of the expe- dition now in his charge.
 During the sea voyage to the Con- go the Zanzibar porters got into trouble with the sixty Soudanese, whom they outnumbered ten to one. There was a terrible row, and the overpowering Zanzibari mob, with clubs and tirewoOd, were driving the Soudanese down into a stifiing place between decks, when Stanley appeared on the scene with his stick, belabored all the frantic porters within reach, drove them back and quieted the tu- mutt. One secret of his success is the mastery Stanley has always possessed over the hundreds of ignorant natives who have helped him in his enter prises. More than one African expe- dition, like Lieutenant Giraud's, has been ruined because its commander lacked the quality of leadership and insubordinate attaches got the upper hand. On this occasion Stanley as- slS Heu tHc poor OOuuaucee ID one part of the vessel, within which he forbade the Zapzibaris to intrude, and there after there was perfect peace among the different elements of the party.
 Before the big expedition deharked on the Lower Congo to begin it's land march the party had been divided into companies of about seventy men, each of which was put in change of one of Stanley's European assistants. Each captain had his distinctive flag and received every morning the orders of the day. The chiefs of several of the Congo stations have expressed their admiration of the perfect order and system with which every movement of the party was conducted. Officers at Leopoldville have said that when steamer is about to leave that port one would think huge Atlantic liner was taking her departure. Stanley's com mand, however, marched in detach- ments to the waiting fleet, took the position assigned them in the most perfect order, and were on their way up the river before half of Leopold vile knew they had broken camp.
 "The departure of the steamers" writes a member of the Sandford ex-